Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2014

The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2014, the 45th edition of this series, includes the latest available economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for the 48 regional members of the Asian Development Bank.

It presents the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific to a wide audience, including policy makers, development practitioners, government officials, researchers, students, and the general public. Part I of this issue is a special chapter—Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look. Parts II and III are composed of brief, nontechnical analyses and statistical tables on the Millennium Development Goals and eight other themes. The publication is supplemented by the fourth edition of the Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators.

The statistical tables in this issue of the Key Indicators may also be downloaded in MS Excel format from this website or in user-specified format at SDBS Online.

Highlights

Extreme poverty in Asia, when measured as income or expenditure of 1.25 per person per day in 2005 purchasing power parity terms, could fall to 1.4% by 2030, if current trends continue.

But the $1.25 per day measure does not fully capture the extent of extreme poverty in the region. Three additional elements should be factored into the poverty picture: the cost of consumption specific to Asia’s poor; food costs that rise faster than the general price level; and vulnerability to natural disasters, climate change, economic crises, and other shocks.

Broadly following the procedure used to determine the conventional $1.25 poverty line—but focusing on data from Asia—produces an estimated Asia specific extreme poverty line of $1.51 per person per day.

While the above factors are not necessarily mutually exclusive, the report finds the combined impact would increase Asia’s estimated extreme poverty rate for 2010 by 28.8 percentage points to 49.5%. This increases the number of poor by about 1.02 billion to 1.75 billion people.

The report projects that if recent economic growth trends continue, the overall poverty rate would fall to 17.1% in 2030, with most of the poor living in middle income countries.

To confront the challenge of maintaining and extending poverty reduction, the report urges a stronger focus on efforts to enhance food security and reduce vulnerability, in addition to promoting growth.

Contents

Part I – Special Chapter: Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look

Part I is a special chapter on “Poverty in Asia: A Deeper Look.” Based on a conventional measure—the $1.25-a-day poverty line—the region, while still home to 733 million extremely poor, remains on track to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. This is indeed a remarkable achievement, yet many argue this poverty line underestimates the cost required to maintain a minimum living standard by the poor in Asia and the Pacific. One attempt to adjust the poverty line is examined in this chapter. When based on an average of national poverty lines for less developed economies in the region, and when the added effects of vulnerability to risks (such as shocks and disasters) and food insecurity are considered, the number of extreme poor in the region in 2010 more than doubles—to about 1.75 billion.

Part II – Millennium Development Goals

Part II contains the MDG indicators and short commentaries on progress toward achieving the specified targets. The region continues to make uneven progress toward achieving the mdgs by the 2015 deadline. While most of the region has made significant gains in reducing poverty, improving access to universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, the 2015 targets for reducing child and maternal mortality appear beyond reach.

Part III – Regional Trends and Tables

Regional tables in Part III present indicators in eight themes: People; Economy and Output; Money, Finance, and Prices; Globalization; Transport and Communications; Energy and Electricity; Environment; and Government and Governance. The data show that while economic growth in Asia and the Pacific was largely unchanged in 2013, a major transformation is under way in the region. Asia and the Pacific now accounts for over half of the world’s population, nearly 40% of global gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms, and about one-third of world exports. The region’s growing importance also brings with it increasing challenges. Regional economies consume more than two-fifths of the world’s energy, continue to increase their emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and are faced with the rapid consumption of finite resources. Improved governance is imperative as more than 40% of the region’s economies reside in the bottom one-third of Transparency International’s global corruption rankings.

Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators

The Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators 2014 (FIGI 2014) is the fourth edition of the special supplement of the Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific. The framework is composed of 35 indicators used as measures of income and nonincome dimensions of inclusive growth; the processes and inputs that are important to improve access to opportunities, social inclusion, social safety nets; and good governance and institutions. Part I focuses on the extent of education inclusion. It examines the education indicators included in FIGI, discusses trends on education poverty and education inequality, and describes disparities across segments of society defined by wealth, location, and sex. Part II contains updated statistical tables for the 35 FIGI indicators for the economies of developing Asia, along with brief nontechnical analyses of trends and inequalities.

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